It opens up with the 27-year-old Evie, who was assigned as the bridesmaid for her bestfriend Grace' wedding. Her main task is to make the bride ready to walk down the aisle.
That wasn't an easy task.
When Grace finally got ready minutes before the ceremony, Evie then decided to slip in some breast enhancers she calls "chicken fillets". She looks as gorgeous as she can be. Only the chicken fillets popped out. And the ridiculously handsome Jack saw it.
So apparently her love story with Jack ended before it even started. And to make matters worse, Jack is dating her self-proclaimed Angelina Jolie look-alike friend, Valentina.
But just when she thought all hope is lost, Chance had its own way to play with all of them.
A light and easy read, Bridesmaids is a big beautiful promise of a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Its humorous take on life's hardest situations makes it as realistic as any reader could hope it could be. Three quarters to the novel and you'll feel tricked, though. The humor can be so successful in leading you away from a huge elephant in the room. But worry not. Jane's got you covered. At the end of the story you'll realize that happily ever after, as well as fashion tastes, is very relative.
One way to know if a book is good is when one sees several blurbs in the first pages. If there were so many of them, then the reader is in luck. This blurb test is, of course, not a standard, but it's a start. And when I read the blurbs for Jay Asher's "Thirteen Reasons Why", I knew I was in luck.
Thirteen Reasons Why narrates the heartbreaking journey of Clay Jenkins around town as he listens to a set of thirteen cassette tapes (cassette tapes!) he received in the mail a few days back. After listening for the first several seconds, he knew right away that it was from Hannah Baker, his classmate who committed suicide. What’s chilling is the fact that twelve other people have received or have to receive the tapes and that they all are the reasons for Hannah’s death. Along with the tapes is a map where important places for Hannah are marked. These marked places are unforgettable to her, like the people who contribute to Hannah’s decision to take her own life.
I read the book thinking it was another take on the horror film “The Ring” and that there might be a curse on the cassette tapes since the tapes needed to be passed along to the next person on the list, otherwise, something terrible will happen. But, no. There was no avenging ghost. No curses. Or maybe a little. The curse is set on the conscience of those who listened.
It was a quick read. And it was a haunting read. It’s the kind of haunting that does not scare you. At least Hannah didn’t sound eerie in the tapes. But it haunts you in the sense that it will let you – force you – to look back at all the years you’ve lived. It will force you to remember details about your interactions with others: your family, your teachers, your classmates, your friends, your enemies, even strangers. It will force you to recall kind deeds, kind words, rude deeds and rude words. It will force you to think back what evil you may have caused to the life of someone as you try to peacefully navigate your daily life. You will remember deaths. And you will remember the last time you talk to people before they died and wonder how you affected their lives.
It made me uneasy. But it didn’t stop me from reading. It made me sad. But, surprisingly, it didn’t make me cry.
I finished the book in 5 hours. And then I wondered at the solace it gave me. I should have wept and felt bad that a promising life was lost due to the frailty of today's youth's self-esteem and their constant need for social acceptance. I should have mourned for a seemingly innocent and pure love that never took place. If not for the dead girl, I should have been full of regret for the poor boy she left behind.
I felt sad for Hannah. But her decision is, apart from the terrible making of the terribly ill-advised children in her school, is a product of a series of terrible decisions. She needed help. But just like so unfortunate people. She tried to get help from the wrong people when all the while the only person who could save her has always been there and she sent him away. She is a victim, yes. But that doesn’t justify anything.
Instead of mourning for her death, I chose to celebrate life for those who took the tougher road and managed to stay alive despite the struggle to fit in this cruel world. I believe Hannah’s story is about these truly strong people as it is about her.
(In which fairy tale princesses are introduced to an extreme feminism awakening.)
***
I'll try my best not to include spoilers but I might fail. If you haven't read the first book yet, remember you've been warned.
When Sophie and Agatha escaped their fairy tale and returned to Gavaldon, they became instant celebrities. Autographs here, photo shoots there, seemingly endless interviews and book signings. Sophie just loves it and is convinced she could live a peaceful life in that unbearably boring town as long as she has Agatha. She was even willing to accept that her father is going to remarry a woman that is a total opposite of her goddess-like mother. As long as Agatha's there.
But on the day of the wedding, Agatha wished for something that Sophie couldn't provide. And then the ghost of their fairy tale life came haunting them, along with knives and arrows and invisible assassins that are after Sophie for a huge bounty for her head. The two girls are left with no choice but to return to the dreaded school and try to set things right again.
Only the school isn't how they left it before.
Princes were banished. Fairy tales no longer end with a happily-ever-after-inspired themes and worse, female protagonists got rid of their princes and kings in most horrible ways possible, reign on their own and became celebrated heroes of women empowerment.
The schools were no longer divided into good and evil but into genders. Lessons were no longer taught on how to be better and worse versions of their characters but how to live without the other gender and, how to dispose them.
Sophie and Agatha saw their old schoolmates in one school and was flabbergasted to see a utmost lack of fashion and grooming sense practiced. No one is required to wear makeup, dresses, long hair and be uptight.
Agatha couldn't imagine a functional world where the genders are at war with each other, especially when the other school is led by Tedros, who is after Sophie for ruining his fairytale ending with Agatha. Oh, the ego.
But Sophie loved the lack of moral distinction. She wanted to stay. But Agatha, as always, wanted to do what's right for everyone.
When they realized that they were brought back to school because of Agatha's wish, they discovered that in order to bring peace to the fairytale world, they need to find the Storian and end their story either with the "proper" one or with the two of them peacefully back in Gavaldon.
But things are more complicated than that, of course. Especially with the presence of new Dean.
In the second book of The School for Good and Evil, Soman Chainani again uses his interesting characters (although they are eyeroll-inducing at most times) as well as his simple narration embellished with twists that you'll find hard to guess until the last moment. This book was a quick read, making one wish that the last installment was already available.
Waiting is such a bitter pill to swallow.
I wonder, though, if the gender-bending act found in book one and two (which, I just have to say, was leveled up in book two) will still be found in book three.
Well, since it was a staple in fairy tales and in this book, I wouldn't be surprised if it was.
Also, may I share with you it's very cinematic book trailer? You're welcome!
